Another question for the Brits on the list

[Carol]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, hells <hells456 at ...> wrote:
>
> From: Carol <justcarol67 at ...>
> 
> I'm editing a manuscript by a non-native English speaker who wants to
> use British English but is making lots of errors, one of which is
> referring to an unmarried teacher as Mrs Somebody. (Sctually she
> spells it the American way, "Mrs."). I'm wondering whether
> British English uses "Ms" or whether unmarried women are always
referred to as "Miss," as they were in the U.S. before feminism came
along.
> 
> Carol, who should have posted her request this morning and hopes to
> get some quick, authoritative answers!
> 
> Hells:
> 
> It depends on the woman herself. In my experience, I have rarely
come across someone who calls themself 'Ms'. Usually it is just
'Miss'. However, my daughter has a teacher at the moment who goes by
'Ms' but she lets the children call her 'Miss'. 'Mrs' is only used
when they are actually married. The 'Ms' is so underused round here
that all the parents call her 'Mzzzzz Whatshername' and find it a bit
weird and secretly mutter about whether she is embarrassed she
couldn't find a bloke, or if she gets on the other bus.
> 
> Hope that helps.
> Hells
>
Carol:
Thanks. "Ms." is, of course, pronounced "Miz," exactly as "Mrs." is
pronounced in the American South (right, Potioncat?), but I can see
why people unfamiliar with it (me, when I first heard of it!) would
think it was pronounced "Mz." Some women who use it consider their
marital status to be nobody's business. Others use it because they're
divorced and are neither "Miss" nor "Mrs." As I noted earlier, it's
convenient for letter writers who don't know the marital status of the
woman they're writing to. And there's always the feminist argument
that if a man's marital status doesn't matter, why should a woman's?
But for an unmarried woman, I agree that "Miss" sounds better.

I don't understand the "gets on the other bus" reference. Can you
explain it for me?

Thanks,
Carol, surprised to find herself almost defending a usage that she
considers ugly!